The Unyielding Past
by Angel of Atonement
Summary: 90's Fox SpiderMan TV series. Post Spider Wars. Spidey's old nigthmares will come back to haunt him as enemies old and new alike refuse to let the past stay buried.


**Summary:**

**_Based in the universe of the Fox Kids' 1990's animated Spider-Man TV series. (Known to Spidey fans as "The GOOD Spider-Man TV series") The story takes place some months after Spider Wars, the end of the series, with Peter Parker back on earth in his own reality. Situations and back stories will be explained as needed in the story itself. This story was inspired by an anime called Inu Yasha, which I am not a fan of but do know about. This is not exactly a crossover, but the influences are plain to see to those who do know it. If you don't know it or don't care for it, don't be afraid to give this story a try. The characters here are all based on Spider-Man's continuity so outside knowledge or even appreciation should be unnecessary. This was written specifically for web-heads like me. I just saw good ideas and I have to give credit where credit is due. After seeing them I realized how well they could fit into Spider-Man's world and I just had to know if I could do justice to the possible story. I promise to try my best._**

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**Disclaimer**

**Spider-Man is owned by Marvel Comics and Inu Yasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi.**

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The Unyielding Past, Chapter I

**"Unworthy Prey"**

Potential dangers lurked in every shadow of the foliage around them as a small party of explorers worked their way into the unwillingly disturbed area. The vast wilderness of the African jungle loomed all around the five men as they trudged their way through land that no man was ever meant to walk. The scent of nature in the air was almost overwhelming and the noises of the local wildlife would be enough to keep any man on his toes.

Almost any man, that is.

The younger of the two men who made up the back of the walking group, his burgundy hair not completely hidden beneath his hat, pushed a few vines out of his face with his right hand as he walked the path chosen by those ahead of him. His lips curled into an unsatisfied sneer as he saw spider webs tangled on his hand from the action. Luckily for him, the uniform that each of the men were wearing came not only with matching tan-coloured vests, pants and hats, but gloves as well.

As he wiped off the unwanted threads with his other hand he turned to the man walking beside him.

"We've been on the move for two weeks. How much longer are we supposed to keep looking?"

"Until we find what we're looking for," the moustached man replied with a nervous tone in his voice. "Now don't say anything that might get us in trouble."

"Come on," came the whispered response. "If this guy is supposed to be the best tracker in the entire world, then what's he doing leading us in circles all this time?"

Burgundy's hand flashed briefly towards the front, where the back of the man leading them could be seen beyond the two men walking side by side in the middle of the formation, his rifle strapped there securely.

"I said be quiet," Moustache replied. "You do not want this guy to hear you say that." He emphasized the word not to get his point across silently.

Burgundy stared at Moustache through the corner of his eye for a few moments, then snorted and dismissed the topic altogether.

In front of the irritable man was an older member of the group with glasses. He breathed a sigh of relief once the topic had been dropped.

'Young fool,' he thought, bringing a finger to readjust his lowering frames to the bridge of his nose. 'He has no idea what kind of man Tanaka-sama really is.'

Sama, the Japanese honorific which is a sign of great respect, was not misplaced on the man walking alone some distance ahead of Glasses. Tanaka was a man who instilled great fear in those around him just from his very presence. Burgundy's failure to experience this came only from his ignorance.

Tanaka's deep, piercing brown eyes carved a path through the brush ahead of him. His strong facial features formed a solid look of indifference as he made his way towards the prey he didn't consider worthy of his tracking skills. He didn't consider any prey to be worthy. In his mind, that was why he always found what he was looking for.

Tanaka's short black hair was covered completely by his hat and his vest wrapped itself around his tall, wide-shouldered frame. Many would be intimidated just by the size of the man, who clearly relied on his physical abilities to survive just as much as his equally impressive mental capabilities.

Next to Glasses was the last member of the party. The experienced African guide with a full beard was the only one there who had no idea of the true intention their mission held. As far as he knew, they were looking for a missing person.

Unfortunately for Beard, this was only a half-truth. While the men were indeed searching for a missing person, this particular person did not wish to be found.

Next to Beard, Glasses would have begun to sweat, if the African sun hadn't already taken care of that for him, as he thought about how he had come to be here.

"It is absolutely imperative that I find this man. There is no other in the world who can help that we have a better chance of finding," said a deep, powerful voice from behind the back of a large chair that sat facing away from Glasses and two other men who were Burgundy and Moustache. They had all been chosen from their employer's operations for this specific mission.

"However," the voice continued. "We need the absolute best if we're to have any chance at all. That's why I'm bringing in the world's best tracker. Tanaka Kai.

Glasses and Moustache stiffened and gasped respectively at the thought. Burgundy may have been an ignorant young fool, but the other two were aware of this particular man's reputation and it was a frightening one at that.

"You'll rendezvous with him in Africa. See to it that he gets the job done."

The last words of that man were spoken with such authority that it felt as if the men's knees would buckle beneath them, even Burgundy's.

Once in Africa they had met with the infamous man in silence. Tanaka wasted few words on them save for direct orders. The tracker had them spending several weeks on information gathering and scouting missions in the jungle, all in preparation for the real hunt. Tanaka never went after a target without knowing everything humanly possible about them first.

And so Glasses now walked several feet behind Tanaka Kai, the greatest and most feared tracker in the world. He was a man who was rumoured to kill his own employers once he found the target if they had been anything less than absolutely respectful.

His skills had become so feared that he had become a last resort to all, but if you wanted someone who was impossible to find then this was the only man who could help you.

Tanaka's black boots stopped short on the jungle floor and the other four men did the same in response. The tracker's head turned to the left at a slightly lower angle than usual. He stood perfectly still in that position and the others did the same, each one too tense to even take a breath.

Almost each one of them, that is.

"Hey, Tanaka! What's the hold up? We gonna spend another week in the jungle and just stand around looking at the flowers?" he asked with gross disrespect, emphasizing the word another.

Tanaka ignored the man even as Burgundy crossed his arms and began tapping his foot.

"He's in the clearing at the top of the next ridge," came the calm, cool voice of the Japanese man. He then turned and began to walk to his right through the trees, the opposite direction of the way he had been looking.

The other men looked at each other in slight confusion, and then resigned themselves to following their current leader. Each of them had to slow down as they worked and hacked their way through the thick vegetation with their machetes. Tanaka was already walking up the incline on the other side of the trees as they emerged and each of the men sped up to get back into formation.

When they reached the top of the ridge they found themselves in a small clearing surrounded by trees on all sides. A large boulder to the right and a patch of bare earth to the left weren't the clearing's defining features, however. It was the pack of lions resting at the center that caught the eyes of the explorers.

Burgundy, Moustache, Glasses and Beard all reached for their guns but Tanaka stayed still and calm as the felines eyed the intruders.

"Dr. Reeves," the tracker said.

Soft footsteps from a heavy man made their way across the small patch of open land, taking their creator from being hidden in the pride of lions to being revealed in the light of day.

"So it's come to this," came the intelligent voice of the wild man. He wore no shoe son his feet or shirt over his incredibly muscular body. His face had the look of a man deep in thought, but his eyes were full of feral instinct and his red hair reflected this side of his nature as it spread out wildly from his head in untamed strands. "I've been avoiding you fro days but it seems clear that no matter how far I go or how fast I run, you'll never lose my trail."

Tanaka just stared at his paid target. Dr. Reeves had been an extremely difficult man to find and follow, but the tracker would never admit that. He had found him, just as he had found all the others. That was all that mattered.

The other four men looked extremely nervous as Reeves and Tanaka stared each other down.

"What do you want from me!" the doctor demanded.

"I was hired to find you. That is all," came the reply.

"By who!"

Beard looked around with confusion.

'Were we not looking for a missing person? This man was not in need of help?'

After a few moments Glasses made the move to take a step forward, which drew the cold gaze of Reeves and his lions. Glasses swallowed nervously then did his job. "Doctor, our employer is very interested in your work. He would like to request your cooperation with-"

"No."

The response was quiet and calm, but it was definite. The large cats around the speaker began to growl in contempt.

"I left because the drug was unsafe," Reeves continued. "I'm not interested in unleashing it upon the world as I did upon myself."

"What are you talking about?" Burgundy asked. "Ain't you supposed to have made a drug that cures any physical injury? That stuff's gotta be priceless!"

Moustache shot his ally a cold look. The youth needed to learn to stay quiet.

"My so-called wonder drug may have been able to do what I wished, but just look at the side effects," the doctor said, opening his arms wide. "I'm more of a beast than a man now. My feral instincts take deeper hold over me than my intelligent mind. My physical abilities and five senses are unnaturally enhanced. I am cursed to live as an animal because I cannot control myself as a human being!"

Reeves was getting angrier now, his teeth, like fangs, bared at the five men. Glasses stepped backwards in fear.

"I assume that the sample I gave Dr. Crawford has already been lost since you're coming after me, but I have nothing to give you."

Indeed the sample was lost. Dr. Maria Crawford has used the drug on her love, Sergei Kravenoff, to heal him after he protected her from an animal attack. The result ended up with him becoming a feral man who called himself Kraven the Hunter. Eventually she was able to make an antidote and cure him, but in the end they both ended up taking a sample of the drug then disappeared into the wild to live freely as kindred spirits. The only ones with knowledge of these events besides Dr. Crawford and Kraven themselves were two New York super heroes called Spider-Man and Black Cat, who had helped them when the drug's effects had initially gone out of control. Since their situation and disappearance were secret, the enigma who seeks the wonder drug was forced to go to its original creator, Dr. Reeves.

"You're coming with us."

Burgundy, Moustache, Glasses and Beard all looked at Tanaka with shock. How could he say such a thing when facing a pride of lions and a scientifically enhanced wild man?

"Never!"

At the former doctor's command a lion with a large mane jumped forward at Tanaka. The tracker reacted quickly, rolling at an angle and unsheathing the katana he kept at his side as he passed slightly under the cat. Once the lion landed it had been relieved of its right foreleg and had been given a cut through it's lungs in exchange. The beast was unable to fight.

Reeves stared daggers at Tanaka as he stood up holding his bloody sword, still perfectly calm and still staring back at the accident of science.

The four men all drew their guns and began to fire. The Lions scattered and Reeves leaped to the side.

"No, don't kill Reeves!" Glasses yelled at the other three. A lioness used his distraction to leap at him from behind. Glasses turned just in time to let out a terrified scream, followed by a grunt as Burgundy tackled him out of harms way and landed them both on the ground. Moustache delivered several shots to the female with his two revolvers as she landed, knocking her to her side

"Leave me alone!" Reeves cried as he jumped down at Tanaka. The man quickly jumped backwards just enough to dodge the blow then rushed forward again, slashing his blade horizontally in front of him. Reeves back flipped on instinct, claw-like fingernails digging into the ground as he landed temporarily on his hands before pushing himself back onto his feet in another feral crouching position. No sooner had he stopped when another lioness ran from behind him and leaped at Tanaka.

Meanwhile, with two of the four lions down and one attacking Tanaka, only one remained to attack the other men. Unfortunately it took full advantage of Burgundy and Glasses' position on the ground to move in and clamp its jaws on Burgundy's leg. The man screamed as the lioness swing her head, pulling the man off Glasses and across the ground. She released her jaws and then went for the neck, but was stopped by a bullet from Glasses who yelled "No!" and followed it with several others from his rifle, forcing the feline back. Moustache moved to aid his friends but the lioness he had shot was not dead and reached out to claw at his chest as he walked by. Beard came to his aid with a bullet to the cat's head at point blank range, finally dropping it dead.

As the enraged feline thrust both its paws and its murderous intent at Tanaka the man was already reaching for the rifle on his back. He side jumped to his right and turned, whipping the weapon at the passing lioness and firing lead into its side as it passed.

Without losing his confident face Tanaka fell backwards from his jump, rolled over his back, and landed on his feet, turning towards the direction of Reeves. At this point the jungle man was bringing his hand at Tanaka's throat. The tracker pointed his katana in a way that forced Reeves to change direction or lose an arm. The doctor simply ducked under it and swung his left arm hard into Tanaka's chest, sending him flying backwards.

Glasses soon found his rifle out of ammo as the lioness started advancing once more. He desperately tried to get up and crawl away simultaneously, but his movement was made clumsy by fear and she bit down on his hand. She wanted to make sure he dropped the gun, just in case it was capable of creating that dangerous noise again. Burgundy managed to fight through his pain and aim his own pistol, firing into the unsuspecting huntress' backside.

"Get away from him!" he yelled at the beast.

The lioness jumped back in pain and was met by the firing from Beard and Moustache. She tried to escape but injuries and blood loss would eventually end her life prematurely.

Tanaka hit the ground with gritted teeth form the pain in his chest but rolled only once before stopping himself by sticking his katana into the earth. Resting his other hand on his chest, Tanaka aimed his rifle and fired at Reeves, who jumped to the side only to accidentally allow the lioness behind him to suffer injury. Tanaka fired into it a few more times as he stood up to ensure its end.

Reeves saw the opportunity and jumped at Tanaka, looking to grab him from the side and hold him hostage against the other men, whom he was sure he could defeat anyway. "You'll pay for that" he cried with animal rage.

But things didn't exactly go as the now primal mind had planned.

Tanaka dropped both of his weapons to empty his hands, and then spun with grace and agility that came from years of intense training. With both hands he grabbed the doctor's right arm as he stepped slightly to the wild man's side, then swooped his right leg to ensure the momentum of the doctor could not be been halted by friction. Tanaka quickly entered a spinning motion that had Reeves helplessly being swung through the air by one arm. Once he had made the necessary rotation Tanaka released his grip and Reeves went flying into the large boulder at the side of the clearing.

The four other men, licking their wounds, stared in shock as Reeves slowly stood up with intense anger on his countenance.

"I can not let you take me..."

He shook off the dizziness and shock and prepared to charge Tanaka again.

Unfortunately for the doctor, he soon found himself bound. Tanaka had pulled out a device he received from the three men his employer had sent and fired it at Reeves. It shot out a burst of energy that, upon impact, became a ring shaped force field around Reeves' chest, effectively tying up his arms. Tanaka hadn't been keen on the idea of using the supplied tool, but this hunt was over and he was restless to move on.

Reeves struggled but Tanaka fired twice more, once to bind his lower arms to his waist and another to bind his ankles together.

Reeves dropped to the dirt, snarling and struggling.

"The serum will never be yours," he snarled, feral eyes peering up at Tanaka with a deep hatred.

"I don't want it."

Tanaka pulled out a small pouch from his vest pocket and tossed it onto the ground in front of Reeves. A puff of orange coloured dust popped out like gas as it hit, which Reeves unwillingly inhaled. After a coughing fit the wild man succumbed to the drug from the pouch and collapsed his head against the warm ground, unconscious.

Beard was overwhelmed.

"What the blazes was going on here?" he demanded. "Who are you people?"

Tanaka's head turned, his cruel gaze fixing on Beard who promptly shut his mouth and stood still.

"Clean your wounds then prepare to carry him back," the tracker announced as he walked towards the men. When he was just past them he stopped and turned back towards Burgundy.

"What?" the man asked as he wrapped his bitten leg in bandages from their medical supplies. He wouldn't be bale to walk for a long while.

"You're a liability."

"Wha-"

Burgundy was cut off as the tracker's heel connected with his forehead in a perfectly executed kick that sent him crashing backwards. His hat fell off and let his uncombed hair fall out freely.

"Leave him to the wild."

Tanaka turned and walked back down the ridge. The other men soon realized that he wasn't going to wait for them. Quickly wrapping what they could they hoisted the body of Dr. Reeves and made their way to catch up with the man who could lead them back to civilization.

Glasses took one last look of pity at the unconscious Burgundy as the disappeared below the clearing.

Some time later burgundy awoke to find not only that his leg was still not fully covered and bleeding, but also that his party had abandoned him.

"Guys?" he called out in denial. "Guys!"

His screamed were answered only by the surrounding wildlife.

"No... This can't be," he mumbled to himself as he laid his head back on the ground. "This can't be..."

A growl suddenly sounded from nearby.

Burgundy's eyes shot open as weak lioness with firearm-caused injuries in her backside slowly creped back into the clearing.

"No..."

Burgundy reached for his gun, only to find that it was dropped back where he had been kicked from.

Glancing back at the beast he had previously injured to save the life of the companion who abandoned him, Burgundy panicked as she picked up her pace. He desperately began to crawl using his arms towards the dropped weapon, his motions becoming more and more erratic as the sweat caused by the beating sun was overtaken by a new flood, this one cold from fear.

As his hand gripped the object of his desire, Burgundy's eyes opened wide in grim realization. The lioness plunged it's fangs towards the back of the young man's neck.

From some distance away, Glasses could have sworn he heard a familiar scream.

It was a scream that was quickly silenced by an unknown force.

He turned his head forward with a look of misery as he helped Moustache and Beard carry the unconscious doctor. They too winced at the faint noise.

Tanaka walked ahead of them without care, finding his way back. His job was done and nothing else mattered.

Nothing but the nagging fact that this hunt had almost been worthwhile.

And he began to wonder what other prey the man who hired him might be able to offer for chance to test his skills against.

The possibilities were intriguing, and for the first time in a very long time, Tanaka's eyes flashed momentarily with a look of something other than superiority.

Excitement.

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**Author's Notes:**

**_Just so everyone knows, Tanaka IS going to get character development and DOES have a back story. It's not just a "Here's-a-new-villain-he's-amazing-go-after-Spidey-they-fight-Spidey-wins-Hooray-The-End"type of thing. In this chapter Doctor Reeves was found and taken hostage. But who hired Tanaka? There are a couple of likely suspects, that's for sure. Clearly someone is after the original wonder drug that created Kraven the Hunter, but this story got its title for a reason. What other ghosts from Peter Parker's past could soon start haunting him? There are plenty to choose from and you can expect to see many. Please review whether you enjoyed the first chapter or not, and I hope you'll stick around for Spider-Man's greatest challenge since Spider-Carnage. And no, I'm not just going to throw every plot device ever used into one guy to create some ultimate bad guy or anything like that. I'm just going to use them all to tell one story made up of many stories that link together. I hope you'll all give it a chance._**


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